The present invention relates to a top-loading horizontal axis automatic washer having a tub with an opening and a rotatable basket disposed within the tub, the basket having door flaps, and more particularly, to a pulley system for actuating and resetting a system for positioning the basket within the tub in a loading position wherein the basket doors are aligned with the tub opening.
Typically, horizontal axis automatic washers employ either a front loading or a top loading configuration for receiving clothes items to be washed. U.S. Pat. No. 3,197,980 to Marple, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, shows a typical front loading horizontal washer wherein the horizontal wash basket is accessed through one of the vertical end walls of the horizontal basket and the front surface of the washer enclosure.
The preference of many consumers, however, particularly those in the U.S., is for top loading washers. Existing top loading horizontal axis washers, however, have some drawbacks. In the typical top-loading horizontal washer, the rotatable wash basket must be manually positioned by the user for alignment with a tub opening for accessing the interior of the wash basket. U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,542 illustrates such a washer wherein no automatic wash basket positioning system is provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,712 discloses a top-loading horizontal washing machine having a system for locking a rotatable basket in an upright position responsive to opening a cabinet lid of the washer. In this reference, responsive to opening the cabinet lid, a feeler is positioned against a pulley which is drivingly connected to the wash basket, during basket positioning. The drive motor is deenergized when the feeler engages a recess on the pulley which corresponds to a upright basket position wherein the basket doors are aligned with a tub opening. In this fashion, the basket is automatically positioned for loading and unloading when the cabinet lid is opened.
Several other references, such as European Patent 253,250 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,571,197, disclose the concept of positioning a rotatable basket by stopping the drive motor of the basket in response to sensing the rotational position of pulleys or arms rotationally associated with the basket.
The above described positioning systems, however, all contain disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the systems for sensing the basket rotational position are relatively complicated and relatively costly. Another disadvantage of the above cited prior art is that no system is provided for positively engaging the wash basket. Another disadvantage is that the prior art systems disclosed for sensing basket position require selective electromechanical actuation of feeler elements to engage an element, such as a pulley, which is rotationally associated with the basket.
There exists, therefore, a need for a top loading horizontal axis washer having an improved, more reliable, and less costly system for identifying the rotational position of the basket within a tub such that the wash tub may be positioned in an upright position. More specifically, there exists a need for a pulley system which can selectively actuate a positioning/holding system for a rotatable wash basket wherein the pulley system is relatively inexpensive and reliable.